Heel lift for women&#39;s dress shoes



April 12, 1960 LANGE 2,932,098

HEEL LIFT FOR WOMENS DRESS SHOES Filed NOV- 23, 1959 United States Patent 2,932,098 7 HEEL LIFT FOR WOMEN S DRESS SHOES Helmut Lange, Hamburg, Germany Application November 23, 1959, Serial No. 854,791 Claims priority, application Germany February 6, 1959 Claims. (Cl. 36-34) This invention relates to heel lifts for womens shoes and refers more particularly to heel lifts for shoes having fashionable high, very slender heels. 1

On womens dress shoes having very narrowheels the heel lifts or taps wear out rapidly because of their small surface area, and they therefore need frequent replacement. However, the securement of new lifts to such heels presents difficulties for the shoe repair man because of the construction of the heels, which usually comprise a metal shell, substantially tubular at its bottom, having a narrow core' of wood or the like in which the securement means for the heel lift is intended to be received.

If the heel lift is fastened by means of nails, the nails must be driven'through the lift in a'very narrow range of locations thereon, and must be driven at exactly the proper angles, otherwise they will miss the small exposed surface of the nailing core of the heel, which the nails are intended to penetrate, and will instead engage against the metal of the shell. The difiiculties are increased by the fact that the nails should be spaced apart as far as possible to cooperate most effectively with one another in holding the lift on the heel. Securement of the lift to the heel by means of a screw also presents problems, because only a single central screw may be used, due to the small cross section of the core, and the screw must be driven into the core at exactly the correct angle in order to insure that the lift will not be tilted on the heel.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of this invention to provide an inexpensive but durable lift for .the slender heels of womens dress shoes, which lift can be readily fastened to the heel by means of nails and embodies structure that provides assurance that the nails will enter the core of the heel rather than engaging against its metal shell.

Another and more specific object of this invention resides in the provision of a heel lift for womens narrow heeled dress shoes, which lift comprises a substantially annular metal outer member and a softer, shock absorbing insert seated in the medial aperture in the annular member, and wherein the metal member has guiding surfaces by which nails driven through the lift at any desired locations in the aperture in the outer member may be guided into the wooden nailing core in a heel to which the lift is fastened and constrained to assume oblique angles to the heel axis which will enable the nails to cooperate effectively with one another inholding the lift on the heel.

It is also a specific object of this invention to provide a heel lift of the character described, adapted to be secured by nails to the bottom of a narrow heel on a womans dress shoe and comprising a substantially annular outer member and a softer, shock absorbing plug like inner member seated in the medial aperture in the outer member, which lift is adapted to be attached to a heel by means of nails that directly secure the softer inner member to the nailing core of the heel, and wherein the inner and outer members are so connected, by reason of the structure of the lift, that securement of the inner member to the heel assures that the outer member will also be firmly fastened to the heel, without any possibility that the outer member can tilt relative to the heel or the inner member.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one complete example of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure l is a. fragmentary side elevational view of a womans narrow heeled shoe provided with the heel lift of this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale of the heel and lift shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3' is a vertical sectional view through the heel lift of this invention; and

Figure 4 is a disassembled perspective view of the components of the heel lift.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, the numeral 4 designates generally the slender heel of a womans dress shoe 5, having a heel lift 6 of this invention secured to its bottom. As is conventional, the heel comprises a metal outer shell 7 which tapers to a very narrow tubular bottom portion 8. A wooden nailing core 9 in the heel, exposed at its bottom, provides for securement to the heel of a lift or tap 6 which affords a wear receiving surface at the bottom of the heel, across the lower end of the metal shell and the wooden core. Because of its relatively small area the heel lift wears out quickly and requires frequent replacement, and it must therefore be fastened to the heel by securement means that permit it to be'readily removed but nevertheless hold it securely. According to this invention, the lift is attached to the heel by means of nails 10 engaged in the nailing core of the heel.

In general the heel lift of this invention comprises a substantially annular metal outer member 11 and a softer plug-like insert member 12.

The outer member 11 is made of brass or other metal alloy which does not tend to draw to a sharp edge as it is Worn, and is preferably cut from plate material having flat, substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces 13 and 13'. In outline the metal outer member substantially corresponds to the cross sectional shape of the heel to 'which it is to be attached, and the medial aperture 14 through the outer member is preferably but not necessarily round. The aperture 14 tapers convergingly upwardly, having a minimum diameter which is substantially equal to the diameter of the nailing core 9 in the heel to which the lift is to be secured, and it is defined by a wall surface inclined out of normal with respect to the top and bottom surfaces of the outer member by an angle that is smaller than 20 and is preferably on the order of 10.

The plug-like insert member 12 may be made of a suitable plastic or thermoplastic material having some degree of resilience and preferably having a resistance to abrasive wear which is comparable to that of the metal of which the outer member is made. The insert member is frustum-like in shape, and the taper angle of its side surface 15 corresponds to that of the aperture in the outer member so that the wall surfaces of the aperture 14 in the outer member can encircle and intimately engage with the side surfaces of the insert member to hold the latter seated snugly in said aperture with its top and bottom surfaces 16 and 17 flush with those of the outer member.

The plug-like insert member is retained in the aperture in the outer member by means of circumferentially spaced apart lug-like tangs or spurs 18 that project across the joint between the inner and outer members. Preferably these tangs are formed integrally with the insert member, projecting radially from its obliquely inclined side surface, and they engage in cooperating female elements in the outer member consisting of closely fitting notches 19 in the wall surface defining the aperture 14. It will be obvious that the relationship of the tangs and notches on the two members could be reversed, that is, the outer member could be provided with tangs engaging in notches in the insert member, or both members could be provided with some tangs and some notches. In any case, the resilience of the insert member can be relied upon to allow some degree of compressive contraction of it to permit thetangs to be engaged in the notches, and the insert member can be seated in the outer member by the use of a. suitable press, to secure the two members together and form them into a unitary lift.

In installing the lift of this invention on a heel, -nails are driven into the aperture inthe outer member at circumferentially spaced apart intervals. Preferably they are driven around the edge-of the insert member,.where they afford a wedging effect which increases the security of the connection between the two members. It will be apparent that the upwardly converging wall surface of. the tapered aperture in the outer member will guide the nails directly into the nailing core 9 and will deflect them away from the metal shell 7. Such guidance of the nails also disposes them at inwardly convergent angles at which they cooperate with one another in preventing separation of the lift from the heel. Because of the. downwardly divergent taper of the frustum-like inner member, there is no possibility of tilting of the outer member relative to the inner member, particularly after the nails are wedged between the two members, and attachment of the inner member to the heel by means of the. nails 10 automatically insures equally secure attachment of the outer member to the heel.

From the foregoing description taken together with the accompanying drawing it will be apparent that this-invention provides a heel lift which is particularly suitable for securement by means of nails to the narrow high heels of womens dress shoes, and that the lift of this invention permits a number of nails to be driven into the nailing core of the heel at correct angles for maximum security of attachment of the lift without any danger that the nails will strike the metal shell of the heel.

What is claimed as my invention is:

1. A lift for womens shoe heels, adapted to be secured on a heel of the type comprising a metal shell having a substantially tubular lower portion and a core of softer material in said lower portion of the shell exposed at the bottom of the heel to receive nails by which a lift may be secured to the heel, said lift comprising: a substantially annular metal outer member having a peripheral outline substantially corresponding to the cross section of the bottom of a heel and having a central aperture defining a wall surface which tapers convergingly upwardly; a substantially frustum-shaped insert member of shock absorbent material snugly seated in and fitting the aperture of the annular member; and tangs on one of said members projecting across the joint between the periphery of the insert member and the annular member and engaged in closely fitting depressions in the other member to maintain the insert member assembled with the annular member, so that the lift can be secured, as a unit, to the heel of a shoe by means of nails driven into the central aperture of the annular member and guided by the tapering wall surface thereof into engagement with the softer core of the heel.

2. A lift for womens shoe heels, adapted to be secured on a heel of the type comprising a metal shell having a substantially tubular lower portion and a core in said lower portion of the shell exposed at the bottom of the heel and of a material capable of being penetrated by nails by which a lift may be secured to the heel, said lift comprising: a plug member of substantially resilient material having substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces and side surfaces disposed at an oblique angle to the top and bottom surfaces and diverging towardthe bottom surface; an outer member of harder material having substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces and shaped to substantially correspond to the cross section of the bottom of a heel, said outer member encircling the plug member and having surfaces intimately engaging the side surfaces thereof to guide nails driven therealong into secure engagement with the core of a heel; and tangs on one of said members projecting into the other member to hold the plug member against displacement from the outer member.

3. A lift for womens shoe heels, adapted to be secured on a heel of the type comprising a metal shell having a substantially tubular lower portion and a nailing core in said lower portion of the shell exposed at the bottom of the heel, said lift being of the type comprising a metal outer member having a medial hole, and an insert of softer material received in said hole, characterized by the fact that: the insert has downwardly divergent side surfaces, inclined at an oblique angle to its bottom surface, and the hole in the outer member is formed to provide downwardly divergent wall surfaces which matingly engage the side surfaces of the insert and serve to guide nails driven through said hole accurately into the core in a heel to which the lift is secured.

4. The heel lift of claim 3, further characterized by the fact that the insert has the same thickness as the metal outer member so that its top and bottom surfaces are flush with those of the outer member.

5. The heel lift of claim 3, further characterized by the provision of interengaging circumferentially spaced apart male and female elements on the insert and the outer member establishing an interlocking connection therebetween by which the insert is securely held inthe hole in the outer member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

